Alfalfa-mill.



E. F. ROSE.

ALPALFA MILL. APPLICATION IILED 001212, 1908.

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Patented May 9, 1911.

E. F. ROSE. ALFALFA MILL. APPLICATION run 001. 12, 1908 Patented May 9, 1911.

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UNITED s'ra'ras PATENT crates.

EDWARD F. ROSE, OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR TO KANSAS CITY FEED COMPANY, LIMITED, OF PRESCOTT, ARIZONA TERRITORY, A CORPORATION OF ARIZONA TERRITORY.

ALFALFA-MILL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD F. ROSE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Collins, in the county of Larimer and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Alfalfa- Mills, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improved means for reducing alfalfa hay. Machines of this class, as heretofore constructed, have cut up or ground the leaves as well as the stalks.

It is the object of this invention to produce a mill that will reduce the stalks to the desired degree of fineness without grinding up a material portion of the leaves.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through a machine embodying the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of said machine. Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially on the plane of line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmental detail views of the reducing devices.

The framework 1 of the machine may be of any suitable construction. It supports the cutting devices 2 and the means for feeding the material to said cutting devices. The feeding means in this instance comprises a conveyer belt 3 extending over rollers 4 and 5, the roller 4 being mounted in bearing boxes 6 arranged to be adjusted in position by means of adjusting screws 7 to take up slack in the belt 3. The upper run of said belt is supported upon rails 8 fixed in the supportin frame.

Above the rol er 5 and slightly forward thereof, is rotatably mounted a shaft 9 carrying a feed roller 10 arranged to cotiperate with the feed belt 3 in feeding the alfalfa to the cutting devices. As herein shown the belt 3 is arranged to be driven by the intermeshing gears 11 and 12 upon the roller 5 and shaft 9, respectively. Side walls 13 extend along the opposite sides of the conveyer belt 3 from the roller 4 to the cutting devices 2.

The cutting devices comprise a gang of rotary saws mounted upon a shaft 14, said Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 12, 1908.

Patented May 9, 1911'. Serial No. 457,220.

saws being spaced apart by means of washers 15. The saws and washers are clamped together and secured to the shaft 14 by means comprising a shoulder or collar 16 on the shaft and a sleeve 17 screw-threaded on said shaft. A jam-nut 18 may be employed to lock the elements of the rotary cutting device together.

Two substantially cylindrical heads 19 are fixed in the opposite sides of the supporting frame 1 by means of bolts 20 and provide bearings 21 for the shaft 14 and the sleeve 17 The saws 2 are of slightly less diameter than the heads 19. Slidably mounted upon the heads 19 and inclosing the saws 2 is a shell 22 having a feeding opening therein extending from a point near the roller 5 to a point near the top of said shell. The portion'of the shell extending from the roller 5 to the rear side of the saws is perforated, as inclicated in Fig. 1. A plate 23 is fixed in the supporting frame in a horizontal position and extends between the feed roller 10 and one edge of the opening in the shell 22. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the edge of the plate 23 nearest to the saws 2 is notched, as at 24, to receive the teeth of the saws 2, providing fingers 24 which alternate with the saws 2, and assist in reducing the material. 25 is a guard overlying the roller 5 to prevent material from .being drawn down between the roller 5 and the saws 2 by the belt 3. The shell 22 in this instance is arranged to be reciprocated longitudinally of the series of saws 2 by means herein shown as comprising a rod 26, slidably mounted in bearings 27 and carrying a bracket 28 to which the shell 22 is fixed. A pitman 29 connects the rod 26 with a crank 30 formed upon the end of a shaft 31, the latter being rotatably mounted in bearings 32. As herein shown, shaft 31 is driven from the shaft 9 by means of the intermeshing gears 33.

In the present instance power is communicated to the various elements by means comprising a drive pulley 34 fixed upon the shaft 14, and a pulley 34 also fixed on said shaft, said pulley 34 being belted to a pulley 35, the latter being fixed with relation to a pulley 36 that is belted to a pulley 37. The latter is fixed with relation to a pulley 38 that carries a belt extending over a pulley 39 on the shaft 9. As hereinbefore stated, the conveyer belt 3 is driven from the shaft 9 through the intermeshing gears 11 and 12.

In operation, the alfalfa is placed upon the belt 3, which carries it up to the rapidly rotating saws. The latter cut the alfalfa and force it upward into contact with the fingers 24 of the plate 23, where the major part of the reduction is effected. The material is carried onward between the saws and the shell 22 until it reaches the perforated portion of said shell, Where the pieces which are small enough drop through the perforations, the shell acting as a shaking screen by reason of its reciprocatory motion. The stems that lie between the saws 2 and are carried around by said saws act as a brush in assisting the saws to discharge the cut material through the perforated shell 22. As the alfalfa is carried around the space between the saws and said shell, any portion of the stalks which was not sufficiently ground while passing the serrated edges of the plate 23 is moved longitudinally of the gang of the saws by the shell until it is gradually reduced to a size enabling it to pass out through the perforations in the shell. Only a very small per cent. of the leaves is ground up, because the leaves, being very light, are blown through the space between the saws and the space between the saws and the shell by the strong air current induced by the rapidly revolving saws, and are not acted upon by the saws to a material extent. It will be understood that the leaves, being dry and brittle, will break to some extent, but they are not cut or ground by the saws and hence are not reduced to powder.

The diameter, thickness and spacing of the saws, their speed of rotation, the .length of stroke of the perforated shell 22 and its rate of movement, the size of the perforations in said shell, and the width of the space between said shell and the saws are determined by the capacity desired and the degree of fineness to which the material is to be reduced.

The machine herein shown and described is only one of several possible embodiments of the invention, wherefore I desire not to be limited to the details of construction illustrated, as various modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a reducing mill, in combination, a shaft; a cutting device fixed to said shaft; substantially cylindrical heads in which said shaft is journaled, a cylindrical shell sliddevice, said shell having a feeding opening therein, and means for reciprocating said shell.

2. In a reducing mill, the combination with a rotary cutting device, of a reciprocatory perforated shell partially surrounding said device, and a stationary plate adapted to cooperate with said cutting device, said plate having notches in one of its edges, and said rotary cutting device extending into said notches.

3. In an alfalfa mill, in combination, a gang of rotary cut-ting devices, said devices being spaced apart from each other, a cylindrical shell surrounding said gang and providing a space between itself and said gam said shell having a feeding opening in one side and being perforated from a point adjacent said feeding opening to a point substantially diametrically opposite said feeding opening, and means for rotating said gang of cutting devices in the direction to first carry the material toward the imperforate portion of the shell.

4. In an alfalfa mill, in combination, a gang of rotary cutting devices, said devices being spaced apart from each other; a cylindrical shell surrounding said gang and providing a space between itself and said gang, said shell having a feeding opening in one side and being perforated from a point adjacent said feeding opening to a point substantially diametrically opposite said feeding opening, means for rotating said gang of cutting devices in the direction to first carry the material toward the imperforate portion of the shell, and means for reciproeating said shell longitudinally of the axis of said gang of cutting devices.

5. In an alfalfa mill, in combination, a gang of rotary cutting devices, said devices being spaced apart from each other, a cylindrical shell surrounding said gang, said shell having a feeding opening in one side, and being perforated from a point adjacent said feeding opening to a point substantially diametrically opposite said feeding opening, said gang of cutting devices rotating in the direction to first carry the material in the direction toward the imperforate portion of the shell, a stationary plate fixed in position so that its edge lies adjacent said cutting devices and near the edge of the feeding opening toward the imperforate part of the shell, said edge being notched to form fingers which extend into the spaces between the cutting devices, and means for reciprocating said shell.

6. In an alfalfa mill, in combination, a

gang of rotary cutting devices, said devices being spaced apart from each other, a cylindrical shell surroundlng said gang, said shell able on said heads and inclosing said cutting I having a feeding opening in one side and having a perforated portion, a conveyer havnotched to form fingers extending into the ing its discharge end adjacent one edge of spaces between said cutting devices, and said feeding opening, a feed roller opposite means for reciprocating said shell.

said conveyer, a stationary plate extending EDWARD F. ROSE. between said feed roller and the other edge Witnesses:

or said feeding opening, the edge of said F RED 0. JOHNSON,

plate adjacent said feeding opening being NILs A. OLSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

